Hot chocolate is a pretty big deal in our house in the winter months. Nothing quite says winter or December to me like a lovely mug filled with warm chocolate and on the luckier days - whipped cream with mini marshmallows (or as my children know them - Snowman Poo!)
So for my Christmas cards this year I figured I would pass on my warm wishes with some whimisical hot chocolate cheer!

​Listening to unlimited Christmas carols while I draw and paint is bringing back memories of Decembers past with family and friends. Some brightly painted cutie cups to negate the darkness of our sunless northern sky. Stars are shining almost twenty-four hours a day now; hence making their way onto every hot chocolate cup.

Winter Warmth
Have a cup and let warm wishes surround
Hot chocolate dribbles
and marsmallow whispers
Melting memories of all Winters
together as one
Topped with fluffy clouds of cream 
making any Snowman smile

Oh the fun part, sorting, printing, and packaging! Getting all of my work ready for the Christmas Bazaar which starts tomorrow and continues over the lengthof the weekend.
I am soo excited to see all the amazing work as people come from all over the north to show and sell their amazing arts and crafts.
Last year was my first time attending the Inuvik Xmas fair and I was, simply put, completely blown away!

​The past few weeks I have been working on some sweet Arctic cetacean minis. I thought it would be lovely to have some original pieces on hand for the Inuvik Christmas Bazaar this year. 
Sooooooooo as you can see, I did go a wee bit crazy with the belugas! I really couldn't seem to help myself and will most likely draw a couple more as they just seem to have so much charcater.
I have finished my beautiful Narwhal painting and will post pictures of it soon - I need to really practice my photography skills. 

       Happy Halloween!
Organ works by Bach is blaring and the doorbell is ringing like crazy. Freezing air is swirling all around my house as I hand out goody bags to Inuviks' cutest and scariest residents. The town firetruck just went by handing out treats as well! So sweet!!! 

So my youngest was set on being a banana - I had rather hoped he would forget about it and choose one of our other costumes I had made previous years. However this was not to be, so I spent yesterday evening sewing a banana! Basically it is a banana quilt and he loves it and vowed to wear it forever. I did have a lot of fun making this costume/movie watching cuddle blanket - LOL!

The banana and 2 other costumes I have made - the honeybee and bison or Minotaur (depending on which one my kidlet chooses it to be) 

Since we live up north and either pumpkins are exceedingly expensive or there just arent any available we generally use milk jugs! Pair these with red turtle light from MEC and you really can't go wrong. My husband drew these ones as the kids were being lame this year and wouldn't draw anything!!

Guess its time to close up this candy shop as the door knockers have dwindled right off. I had 195 Trick or Treaters this year! That's up from 146 last year. Crazy!
​Hope everyone is enjoying and will enjoy their Halloween!!!!

​Northern days are getting shorter, transferring their brightness to the lengthening night. Crazy long nights which amazingly, rather than suffocating one with overwhelming darkness, provides a canvas for the ethereal Aurora Borealis. The Borealis is a huge perk to living in northern climes. 
By far the best Northern Lights display I have yet witnessed was a time when some friends and I slept out along the river in ​Wrigley, NWT. As we lay on the shore of the Mackenzie River, cuddled deep into our sleeping bags, the lights played low and brilliantly; dancing for most of the night. With a grande finale where the Borealis swirled together, forming what looked like a giant ghostly hand which dropped lower and lower until it seemed to hover just above us. When it seemed as though it could descend no further, the lights closed into a fist, shimmering and pulsing as it ascended and dissipated into the depths of the night.

 Painting of the Mackenzie Rest Inn, a wonderful bed and breakfast located in Fort Simpson, NWT - gateway to the Nahanni National Park Reserve

;
A chill morning of hot chocolate and ice whispers. It is the time for Jack Frost to skim his freezing fingers across the top of the water, circling them along the edges of puddles and pools to give strength to his creations. Almost transparent feathers on this surface, daggers and diamonds on the next.
Every morning is a new display; for some a beauty to behold. While for others a new crust to be jumped on and crunched under rubber boots.

First in my ice formation series, playing with layers of blues. Water transforming to ice and the colour shift which follows. ​
Acrylic on paper 5" x 7"

Process - the daunting road to a finished piece, a curve in time documented only by obsessive pics. As time can pass with me barely registering the path I took to get to the layer I am currently working on. These are not the best of pics as I take them randomly with my phone with no sense of light play or time of day. Though as the long northern days are slowly melting away into lengthening darkness I am discovering (somewhat quickly) my paltry artificial light coverage. I am realizing that I am going to have to devote some time to lamp set up!

Stargazers
Following the North Star
Breezes ripple
Swirling already agitated waters
Whipping the sea into a frenzy of night
​